#Sports: FIFA To Set Up Ebola Treatment Centres In Liberia, Others

President of the
International Federation of Football Associations, Sepp Blater, on Saturday
said the organization would give full support to three West African countries
heavily hit by the Ebola Virus Disease. According to “Inside
Games,” an online news provider, Blater made the pledge at FIFA headquarters in
Zurich, Switzerland.

The publication stated
that the world football’s governing body said that the issue would be discussed
and agreed upon at its next Finance Committee meeting which would hold in
France on Sept. 25.

It said that FIFA had
decided to dip into its solidarity fund to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra
Leone, all impoverished countries in West Africa, whose citizens had been
afflicted by the Ebola disease.

“FIFA said that the
additional financial support would be spent in solidarity with United Nations initiative
on the fight against the epidemic.

This announcement, the
publication said, came as it emerged that the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in
Monrovia, the Liberian capital, was to serve as the site for two large-scale
Ebola treatment units.

It also said that FIFA
would cover the costs of any damage to the Monrovia pitch that might be caused
by the treatment units. The publication also
quoted Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the UN on
Sport for Development and Peace as acknowledging that the Ebola outbreak also
had tremendous impact on the sport community.

“National authorities,
the UN and the world of sport need to work closely together in order to halt
the spread of the disease,” Lemke said.

FIFA recalled that
Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia withdrew from the recent Youth Olympic Games
in China because of the Ebola crisis.